Ancient Oath
by AxelTheBunny
Summary: What does Ranma do when not only is she locked, but stuck in a magical marriage contract with, out of all people Gosunkugi Hikaru.
1. Chapter 1

They say that everything happens for a reason.

Sometimes a person's destiny, a person's fate is dictated by their own actions.

Other times it is dictated by the circumstances of their birth or the decisions made by their parents.

And still other times fate is determined by those in higher positions, the commanders who give orders and dictate the flow of a battlefield.

In some cases, a person's fate is decided by none of these, but rather a single choice, a decision made in their own lifetime, or one long ago.

In this case, the future was decided by a single pact, one made in days long gone. A future that was unclear, and a present that few would have seen in store for a young Ranma Saotome.

But in order to understand the present one first must understand the past.

Long ago, in the islands of Japan there existed a group of warriors, long renown for their prowess.

A group consisting of mages, samurai, shinobi and other assorted styles of battle, a group formed to combat a meddling demon seeking conquest.

A group known only as the Azuma-bi no Ryodan.

The demon was strong though, and took many years to truly defeat.

Days before the final battle, two of the members of this group decided to solidify a pact using a binding magical contract.

One which would change the fate of Ranma Saotome forever.

* * *

Noburu glanced over their ragtag group of warriors, leaning part of his weight onto his staff idly.

He saw Kuonji, Hibiki, and Tendo to the side. Tendo was acting boisterous stating this would be the battle, he seemed excited over the whole thing. The Three were obviously drunk, though Noburu couldn't really blame them. No better time to party than when you knew you were about to go into battle, he merely hoped he could be there for the birth of his child.

He knew it would happen soon, the question was if he would survive to see his child in the first place.

A large hand suddenly clamped onto his shoulder and his attention was directed out of his own thoughts. "Thinking on the battle ahead, old friend?" A boisterous voice from behind him said.

"Hard not to isn't it, Isamu...you know I have a child on the way." Noburo remarked

"As do I, have you thought about what we spoke of?"

"The marriage contract? We both know my child could just as easily be a son." Noburu answered. "Then we'll merely put it off til the next generation, our lines have to join eventually right!" Isamu answered, smirking that cocky smirk of his that was known to frustrate his friends and enemies alike.

"Well if that's the case, perhaps a more solid bond is an order?" Noburu said, still unsure.

He did want to provide for his children, and if not them then his grandchildren.

Not to mention the other man was practically a brother to him, something which had largely been the cause to this topic in the first place.

Isamu of the Reddotaigā meanwhile merely smiled, he had been worried as well. It was obvious that his son hadn't inherited his power nor would he be able to tame the spirit beast...between the lack of magical power, not unusual for his clan, and the predictions he'd heard.

While his son was still only recently born he did seem to have remarkable Ki however, perhaps he would grow to be a strong warrior in his own right..

It was a shame Isamu knew he would not see that day where his son would hold his head high and surpass him as a fighter. This battle would be brutal and Isamu had a feeling he wouldn't live past the coming struggle.

To join his line with his oldest friend and ensure both their legacies lived on, well that and the other fact.

The two had always regarded one another as brothers, though they pursued very different arts...perhaps when their lines were joined they could truly regard one another as just that.

"Perhaps we should bind the agreement with magic, to ensure that one day it is fulfilled no matter what may happen to us, it would make me feel secure at least." Noburu stated finally.

Isamu's eyes widened, while he had little real knowledge of magic he knew such a thing would need to be powerful indeed.

Noburu proceeded to pull a contract out, written in magical ink made with his own blood. A knife joined it.

After all an agreement of this nature required the signatures to be in blood, thus binding the clans by the tethers of fate itself.

"We merely need to sign it, I prepared the spells last night…" The thin man stated.

"Then what are we waiting for, it is not as if I hadn't proposed the idea to begin with." Isamu stated, making a small cut on his left hand before using the brush to sign the parchment. It was fortunate that Noburu had thought to bring a brush as well.

Noburu also signed the scroll and wrapped it up, giving it to one of the messenger birds to send to his family.

The contract was signed, now they merely had to survive a duel with a devil to see it fulfilled.

Suddenly Both men had mugs shoved into their faces by Tendo and Kuonji, the Naginata user and ninja both with large grins on their faces.

"Comeon Saotome, ya need to live a little, we could all be dead in a few days after all." The spear-wielding Tendo told Isamu.

"Don't think you can get outta this either Gosunkugi, not even your magic'll keep us from makin' sure ya don't miss out."

"I think I'm fine, thank you." Noburu insisted, though he sighed noticing Isamu had already joined the others in their revelry. He always was the more social one.

The female of the Trio, the brawler known as Hibiki Shinobu gave him a smirk. "Come on, Kugi-chan...Ya know ya aint gettin' away without joinin' us, might as well save yerself the beatin'"

"Alright fine, just for tonight though." Noburu finally relented, taking a sip from the mug of sake.

* * *

The contract was written, and a few days later Saotome Isamu, the legendary Reddotaigā was slain in combat against the demon known as Shinoyami. Isamu was not the only casualty, as many of the group's member died such as the Hanyou Kage, and One of the Azuma-bi no Ryodan's Allies from the tribe known as the as Lo Shen.

Hebinoō Noburu, also known as Gosunkugi Noburu survived the battle and was able to make it home for his son's birth. The son, whom unfortunately would not be able to fulfill the pact due to his gender was named after the bravest man Noburu knew.

Gosunkugi Isamu wasn't the only one to be unable to fulfill the pact, generation after generation both the Gosunkugi and Saotome clans gave birth to sons, eventually causing the clans to be pushed from each other by the test of time.

The rest of the clans were separated from one another as well, as time eroded the bonds forged through the fires of hardship and comradeship.

A few members of the Azuma-bi were able to remember the friends they made, such as the ronin martial artist Happosai, who in later years would take on the task of training the descendants of Tendo and Saotome.

Still it seemed Fate had conspired against the union of the two families of the warrior and magic user continuing to create circumstances which made it impossible for the magic of the marriage contract to be fulfilled.

Some within the clans thought it was the demon's way of taking revenge on the one who sacrificed himself to kill it, not allowing the final wishes of the Saotome to be fulfilled. Others thought it would come in time, only to eventually forget the pledge as years turned into decades, and decades into centuries.

Eventually one of the descendant inadvertently discovered a solution at a certain cursed training ground in China, ironically near the lands of the group's former allies the Joketsuzoku. Far after the oath was forgotten by the Saotome clan as a whole.

* * *

Ranma Saotome stared at the strange valley shrouded in mist.

He didn't really get what was so special about this place, why was Pops so crazy about goin' to this place.

"Aw this place don't look too great." Ranma finally comment, his father had chosen worse places. The Guide had introduced the place as the springs of Jusenkia or something like that.

Genma, Ranma's father jumped to one of the many bamboo poles which seemed to be protruding from the various springs. With his son following shortly after, though he still carried that reluctance about the place.

Genma scoffed, insolent boy, how could he doubt his own father like that.

"I won't go easy on you, Ranma!" He boasted, deciding it would be best for them to start now. This place could at least help them test their agility, as well as reflexes and balance.

Still he didn't understand what was so special about it himself, after all it looked like many of the other training grounds they'd seen throughout the country on their trip.

Even the presence of the water made him doubt the place, wouldn't it be more effective if they fell to the ground instead?

Whatever the place was supposed to be a legendary training ground still so Genma dismissed the small amounts of doubt that proceeded to bug him.

"That's just the way I like it!" Ranma's cocky response came. While most would think Ranma, being smaller than his father would mean he'd have the advantage the ponytailed martial artist knew

Both Ranma and Genma smirked, staring each-other down and waiting for the other to make a move.

Eventually Genma decided to make a move jumping and making an attempt at a kick, intending to land on another pole should his attack fail.

Ranma met his father half way, and struck the older martial artist with a downward kick of his own, taking the stocky martial artist by surprise and knocking him into one of the springs.

Ranma used the momentum from his strike at his father, a trick of the Saotome school of anything goes which became second nature to him long ago. He landed on another pole with ease because of this fact, and stared down at the pool his father had fallen into.

"'Ey Pop, what's the matter? We done already?"

Genma meanwhile was feeling strange, the water almost seemed to weighing him down, but he ignored it in favor of focusing on his Son's taunting.

His analysis, made within a few seconds told him that his son was currently being sloppy. His guard was down, obviously not ready for any sort of attack, well he'd teach his son not to drop his guard when sparring him!

Genma jumped out of the spring and landed on one of the poles, all the while Ranma seemed confused and the guide started rambling about something or another.

Ranma meanwhile was left speechless when a Panda jumped out of the spring, and then amazingly landed on one of the poles.

It proceeded to continue attacking him, as the guide started to tell him what was going on. Apparently the springs were cursed, and this panda was his father..

"Ey, wait a minute, ya didn't say nothin 'bout-" Ranma was cut off when the Panda hit him with a punch sending him into a spring of his own.

Ranma landed in the water of the admittedly rather shallow pool and felt an odd tingling.

His, or rather her head broke the surface of the pool only to discover that he, or rather she had been changed as well.

She first noticed the breasts which had NO right to be on a boy's chest, and then noticed all the other physical changes. As a trained martial artist Ranma was very familiar with her body normally, so to suddenly find himself in a new and completely different body was very noticeable.

Genma meanwhile had finally noticed the change to his own body, only he had done so too late and now stared at his son-turned-daughter in disbelief.

Nodoka was going to kill him!

The guide proceed to explain the spring, called the Nyanichuan or spring of drowned girl to his son, or daughter.

Ranma finally shook off the shock and finally put together the events and what had happened to her.

"OYAGI!"

Genma knew better than to stay within proximity of an enraged female and his survival instincts took over, he'd wait until his son calmed down before trying to find the cure, right now he needed to save his own hide!

* * *

Meanwhile in Japan

Gosunkugi Hikaru was watching Tendo Akane.

This wasn't abnormal, the scrawny boy had been crushing on the youngest Tendo for a few months now.

Unfortunately he was sure the youngest Tendo didn't even know he existed, nobody did.

Gosunkugi had always been the unnoticeable, even most teachers forgot he was there.

Suddenly Gosunkugi felt a strange sensation, as if something had latched onto his very soul, little did he know this was exactly the case as the magic of the centuries old contract latched onto him, indirectly unlocking the magic sealed inside.

A stylized snake tattoo appeared on the back of the high school student's hand.

One which wouldn't be noticed until later, and even then he wouldn't know what this symbol meant.

The boy shook off the strange feeling and went back to what he was doing, primarily watching as Akane fought through the horde of boys fighting for her hand.

* * *

"Whaddya mean I can't change back!"The pigtailed girl yelled.

She'd finally calmed down, and the guide explained more about the curse.

After changing her father back, naturally she'd been looking forward to returning to her own body, only for the hot water to do nothing at all!

"This is all your fault old man!" Ranma yelled at her father..

Genma meanwhile was freaking out mentally...Nodoka would kill him, not to mention the schools wouldn't be joined now.

Suddenly something red on his child's arm caught his eye, and the martial artist had to wonder what it could mean, perhaps it was connected to their current predicament.

"Ranma, look at the symbol!" He said, using the observation to also redirect his offsprings ire.

"Ya think I'ma fall fer tha-oh hey there is somethin'"

There on Ranma's arm was a red stylized tiger tattoo that took up most of her upper arm.

"Something about this seems eerily familiar!" Genma stated, he was getting a very bad feeling about this.

"Don't know, this no happen before...perhaps Joketsuzoku know, they have good magic for locking curse." The guide said.

The two martial artists shared a look before nodding, they'd leave tomorrow, for now it was best for Ranma to familiarize herself with her new body.

The trip was at least a day's journey on foot, and it would be best if they were well rested anyway.

* * *

Author's Note-

Alright so, I came up with this mostly to see if I could...The idea is to pair up Ranma with THE most unlikely person within the Ranmaverse..

The rest of the plot I thought up later, first deciding it needed to be something magically binding to kick off things, and I decided to lock the curse.

Just a warning, this is a story pairing Ranma and Hikaru Gosunkugi, I'm not normally a romance writer. But i figured I'd try my hand at it, I've only got a vague notion of plot thought up so far, also felt I could tie it to the others in Ranma 1/2...gotta say I enjoyed writing the original members of the Azuma-bi, not surprising, I normally prefer writing OCs such as with my other story Of Chaos and Demigods, which focuses on my own OC Robin. I don't intend to update this story as regularly as that one, but felt I needed to get it out there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The Amazon village of the Joketsuzoku was not an overly impressive one when you looked at it.

The village mostly consisted of a large amount of huts, with weapon wielding women watching the entrances and few if any modern conveniences most of the world had long since taken for granted.

Normally it would seem a rather dull lifestyle from the outside, with the village being largely low tech and relatively isolated outside of the similar villages nearby. Now however was different, as today was the day of the village's annual martial arts tournament.

A banquet had already been prepared, one which the champion would then share with the rest of the village.

The winning of the title of champion was also a great honor, and while there were other minor tournaments throughout the year, this tournament would be the only one which truly tested the skill of full warriors of the village.

Naturally it was a very exciting event within the valley, with even some of those from surrounding villages coming to watch the Joketsuzoku women and their notable skills in the art.

As such the presence of two unfamiliar individuals, as well as the guide from Jusenkyo was easily dismissed.

There was also the fact the tournament hadn't started yet, as the guide knew today was the day it would occur and thought it best they arrive early to ensure a meeting with an elder.

Ranma wasn't in too good of a mood, while she'd gotten enough of a handle on her current body to be able to walk around without any problem, aside from the uncomfortable additional weight on her chest, and differing center of balance, she was still currently stuck as a girl. The sixteen year old also had no clue where the strange tattoo had come from, but it wasn't even the strangest thing about the cursed body.

No that was the fact that Ranma didn't FEEL uncomfortable in this body. No in fact it felt as natural as her male body had, which was way too unsettling.

The guide apparently decided he would continue his job acting as tour guide and begun explaining the village was the village of Amazon women. Which Ranma only really paid minor attention too, she was too distracted by her own thoughts at the moment.

She didn't particularly feel different, did the curse change her perception so as not to notice any other mental changes? Or was it just that the curse was meant to feel _real?_ She wasn't sure, since it wasn't like he had any real experience with Ranma was mostly just eager to change back, she was a guy dammit!

Meanwhile elsewhere in the village, the Amazon Matriarch, Cologne was overseeing the final preparations for the tournament. She'd already been assured they were on schedule, but considering how important this tournament was for the village it was best to be sure.

Of course that was when she felt a familiar aura, one she had not seen in almost three hundred years. But no it couldn't be...he was dead! She'd seen it herself during that last battle, still there it was, the familiar ki.

No wait, it was different, for one thing this Ki was female, and unrefined, suggesting whoever it was wasn't yet as well trained as Isamu had been, though she could tell it was organized enough to hint at a good deal of martial arts training. Obviously the only explanation was that it had to be a child, or rather teenager. This warranted investigating, she glanced at the log that was to serve as the arena, it seemed the preparations were almost done as it was, and they definitely didn't need one more old woman watching over them. The other elders seemed to have things handled here.

* * *

Gosunkugi Yamato was not the type prone to impulsive acts.

The head of the Gosunkugi clan was the oldest of two brothers, a master at the mystical arts, the clan was not one of physical prowess but spiritual might. Few clans would willingly tangle with the clan of magi. At least not if they were aware of the power at their disposal.

Despite this reputation the clan had slowly been declining in power throughout the years, with more and more born without significant levels of magic. The clan had yet to birth a child of Gosunkugi Noburu's potential.

Yamato knew his own sons were rather weak magically by the standards of even fifty years before. The power of the Hebinoō seemed unreachable by modern standards. They'd tried marrying those from other magical aligned clans, yet the power seemed to be fading despite such measures.

This was a problem he'd spent many days and nights thinking of, it was by and large a disaster for the entire clan. Yet no solution had presented itself, and while they managed to keep the decline in power secret, it wouldn't be long before the other magical clans learned of their problems.

This new development however was surprising. One of the housekeepers had found the scroll glowing the day previously, sealed shut by a spell. He'd finally found out how to break the spell and now was contemplating what he would find within the scroll, obviously one from centuries fact that whatever had happened had revitalized the scroll making it appear brand new was something unsettling to the mage.

If that was just a side effect, most likely from residual magic of the spell he was sure was activated...then whatever this scroll was had to be powerful indeed. He had yet to open the scroll, worried there could be magical traps on the scroll that could be triggered as their magical matrix fell apart. It was a hazard with many older magical texts, especially scrolls like the one before him.

He steeled his nerves, briefly refilling the tobacco in his pipe before deciding that he'd thought on the issue long enough. Finally the bearded clan head opened the scroll, verifying no obvious side effects before continuing on to actually reading the contents of the scroll.

This was!

It almost seemed impossible, a marriage contract? One that had gone this long without fulfillment was near impossible. Perhaps a kami had decided not to allow it to be filled yet? Then he saw the signatures on the contract and his jaw really did drop, allowing his pipe to fall to the floor. The Hebinoō himself had signed, that explained the power of the magic involved with the contract, and the second signature was nearly as impressive. Saotome Isamu was while not a magic user, a legend in his own right. A contract specifying the heirs of the Hebinoō and Reddotaigā was groundbreaking, there was the wording for one thing.

Whoever ended up fulfilling this contract would have to be the most powerful in generations, he'd have to be in order to inherit the legacy of Gosunkugi Noburu. Yamato had to wonder which of his children would be the one the contract spoke of. Magical families used their magical potential to decide the line of inheritance, naturally the one with the most raw magical power would be specified in the contract.

He finally found the line of the contract that would display the individuals that were to fulfill it.

Saotome Ranma? He had never really interacted with the Saotome clan, he'd need to reach out make their head of clan aware of this. Then he read the other individual's name.

Gosunkugi Hikaru?

Wasn't that his younger brother's son? The boy's father was incapable of magic, and had distanced himself from the rest of the clan. For _his_ son to be the one to fulfill the contract it was almost insulting.

Still Yamato knew it could be of benefit, especially if the contract naming the boy as heir meant what he thought it meant. Yes this could be of great benefit to the clan, especially if the two inherited the ability of their predecessors. It would be better to keep the contract secret for now, with a single exception to help arrange things.

"Mariko! Please arrange a meeting with the head of the Saotome clan." He called, wrapping up the scroll at the same time.

He had to decide what to do about this situation for now he would learn what he could.

* * *

Cologne watched the outsiders.

They weren't too difficult to pick out, given the presence of the Jusenkyo guide, the Joketsuzoku Matriarch was well familiar with the fighters of the region, especially those with the ki levels of these two. One seemed to be a panda, which Cologne quickly decided must have been a result of Jusenkyo, and based on the panda's ki was more than likely a middle-aged male. The other one whom was currently human was a short, redheaded Teenager, likely the child of the panda-man. Cologne first wondered if she too was a victim of Jusenkyo, but a quick check of the aura would surely reveal the answer to that question.

She was surprised to learn this was the aura she'd sensed, and the ki was definitely female. Cologne focused more on the aura, there was a wild, fierce, aspect to it that was much like the one of her memories.

Then there was the tattoo on the girl's arm, another familiar sign.

She'd seen it before, and that in combination with the girl's aura indicated well she was associated with _**him.**_

The Joketsuzoku was a tribe with a long history, they prided themselves on three thousand years of amazon history that they could keep track of. Few males had truly gained the respect of the tribe, and fewer still had avoided joining the tribe through marriage.

Isamu Saotome was one of those, he'd visited from the land of the rising sun, apparently sent to retrieve the pervert Happosai he'd beaten Cologne's own older sister in combat. Despite this, the man refused to join the tribe, to the point a trio of Amazons were sent after him, including Cologne herself.

She had many fond memories of those days, such as when she herself had been a member of the infamous group, the Azuma-bi no Ryodan. Ah such fancies of youth almost made her feel young again.

The Joketsuzoku never did sway Saotome Isamu, and then the demon had made an enemy out of the tribe when it attacked to gain possession of one of the Amazon's many magical artifacts killing many in the village and nearly wiping them from existence.

After that their goal had changed, from seduction to demon hunting.

Cologne knew that a true heir had not surfaced for the Saotome she'd known in her youth, Isamu's true power had yet to surface again in the world. The fact this girl's aura was so similar to his, it definitely warranted some investigation..She had learned from her many years not to jump to conclusions.

"Quite the unusual traveling companions you have there girl." She pointed out.

Ranma meanwhile was brought out of her thoughts by a raspy, aged voice. She blinked when she noticed nobody in front of her, and looked around briefly before a staff smacked her in the forehead.

"Down here child." The voice said and Ranma glanced downward to see an aged, extremely wrinkled old woman. "Ah! A ghoul!" She exclaimed only to be rewarded with another smack to the forehead by Cologne's staff.

"Po Shen," She said addressing the Jusenkyo Guide. She had switched to Mandarin at this point, and the confused look on the child's face indicated they had neglected to learn the language. "I will be taking over from here, return to the springs before some poor fool stumbles upon them and gets himself cursed." She told the guide, whom while not of the Joketsuzoku did know better than to refuse the order.

"So, what brings a young girl from Japan to our humble village?" The elder asked.

"I'm a guy!" The child insisted, causing Cologne to raise an eyebrow. "Oh? Quite a strange looking man then." Cologne commented, amused. She did find this curious though, the child's aura didn't indicate the same, though there was still that wild feel to iti. She watched the annoyed teen in amusement before deciding to tackle the issue. "Perhaps the two of us should talk, and I'm sure you and your panda would like to stay to enjoy the festivities.."

Ranma blinked at the offer before recalling the guide had left them with this woman, meaning she likely could help. She looked up at her Panda-father, who growfed in response, though he seemed to be staring intently at the woman.

Genma meanwhile was surprised by the women of this village, while normally he didn't think of women as fighters, mostly because of the beliefs he had been raised with, it was obvious the women in this village were different. Contrary to popular belief, Genma was aware that there were powerful female fighters, after all one didn't spend years as the apprentice of Happosai without having to defend against such women, It was merely that he was raised within an extremely traditional family.

That wasn't even taking into account his wife, who had even more absurdly extreme views on gender than him. Speaking of Genma had realized with this development he likely wouldn't be able to go home to his wife. With the curse unlocked he might have been able to convince No-chan that Ranma was a man amongst men despite it, especially after he married one of Tendo's daughters.

As it was though he would need a new plan, going to Tendo's wouldn't work out if it turned out that the curse was locked forever. He'd figure it out later.

The old woman was unsettling to the older Saotome as well, she reminded him far too much of the Master!

With no other options available however, the Saotomes followed the old woman into a hut.

* * *

AN-

Well here's another chapter. Still working on "Of Chaos and Demigods", but having trouble deciding how I want to progress the next event there.

Got some stuff setup for the future plot, Noburu and Isamu's legacies will play a role in the story, I will adress some of the concerns people had as best I can here though.

First off, nope no intention to have Ranma enslaved to Gos or anything, I plan to go slow with the actual relationship, with the contract making minor influences on the two of them. I am aware that there was one other story that sort of used the Ranma engaged to Gosunkugi but that one went in a different direction than I intend to, and was never continued so... I introduced the head of the Gosunkugi clan in this chapter to help the story progress later and give more background on how the Gosunkugi clan and magic users in general will be setup later on. I have plenty of ideas for this story that I do not feel like sharing at this time.

I was surprised by the amount of attention this story has gotten, I don't have any particular schedule planned concerning updates however, fear not I do not plan on dropping it any time in the foreseeable future.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"So the curse locked on it's own then?" Cologne asked skeptically.

The idea was impossible, while Jusenkyo was easy to lock, especially for those with enough magical knowledge. Many different locking methods existed, however all of them required some form of contact. A good example was the Cat's Tongue Pressure Point. It didn't actually lock the curse necessarily, merely raised the sensitivity of the victim to absurd levels, to the point it wouldn't be safe for the victim to change back, not that most were willing to try after the first few attempts.

Still there were stories of powerful spellcasters, the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades, able to use their magics to manipulate the curse, even locking and unlocking the curses at will, though only in cursed form. Jusenkyo was not one to allow something as beneficial as allowing for long term locking into the original form for so long.  
"Are you sure nothing of an...unusual nature may have occurred after you fell in the spring?" Perhaps the child merely stumbled upon a cursed object without realizing it? There was always the chance such an object was misplaced by one of the tribes over the years.

The young Saotome tilted her head in thought, obviously trying to recall the events following her becoming female.

"I ain't seen nothin like tha- wait the tattoo!" The girl immediately looked to her arm where the familiar tatoo sat. Cologne raised a brow, she'd assumed the child had merely chosen to get it as some form of teenage rebellion, a way to honor her ancestor, whom had sported a similar tattoo, or perhaps some kind of combination of the two.

But that the child had apparently only received it mysteriously, it definitely had to have something to do with it. Perhaps even to do with Isamu's more...unique abilities. The old woman cackled mentally, oh how she it was to be young again! She could easily recall many times when herself and the rest of the Azuma-bi group had found themselves in strange situations.

"It appears that the lock is tied to your heritage, perhaps you should seek answers within your clan." The aged warrior suggested.

"What're ya talkin about, Pop said he ain't got any fami-"

"Ranma my boy, I think it's time for us to leave." The father of the child said, with a note of seriousness. Cologne raised an eyebrow, considering the man's reaction. The girl however seemed to have a different reaction, at least based on the foot that found it's way.

"Pop, what're ya hidin' now? Didja steal from'em? Ya didn't say nothin' bout no family."

"It's not important son, there is no way we can go back to that place." Genma answered, seeming more serious than Ranma had ever seen her father.

Genma knew better than to think that would turn out well, his father had been vehemently against his marriage to No-chan.

There was also what his family would think about Ranma's curse. His Son would probably be safer with No-Chan than THERE! Not to mention Genma's own problems with his father. No it would be a very bad idea to go there, especially if his foolish offspring tried to pick a fight.

He could fight off his offspring, knock some sense into the boy as it were, after all he was still the boy's father instead he simply let out a sigh as he dislodged his currently-daughter's foot from his face. "Ranma, if ever there were a time to trust your father, it would be now." He responded.

Ranma considered her father, she rarely had seen him this serious but at the same time there was still one problem with her father's evident refusal to take them to their clan. "An' how'm I supposed ta change back to a guy then?" Ranma asked loudly.

Cologne watched the scene going on with a hint of amusement evident on her aged face, at the very least this diversion had certainly been A bit of entertainment. However there was still the issue of the tattoo, if what she suspected were true then the true heir of Isamu had been found, though she had to wonder what that had to do with the child's curse. It was obvious magic was involved to some degree, perhaps she could offer another suggestion?

"Perhaps an alternative then? There is a clan in your homeland more knowledgeable about matters of magic than those of our village." It was true really, they were primarily a tribe of warriors, and while they dabbled in magic they were far from experts of such matters.

"The Gosunkugi clan was known to have connections to your clan, and has a great affinity with the magical arts...perhaps you could seek assistance from them?" Of course she hadn't really spoken with a Gosunkugi in many years, such was the effect of time and distance.

"See boy, we don't need to go THERE, you'll be back to a man in no time!" Genma proclaimed. Of Course they could fix it, and go back to Japan. He'd get the boy hitched and No-chan wouldn't kill them!

Ranma meanwhile gave her father an annoyed look, knowing whatever problems her pop apparently caused with their clan would probably come back to bite HER in the butt!

But she figured magic people would know more than anyone how to get rid of the curse. "Alright pop, let's go to these Gosunkugi people'n get these curses fixed then." Ranma conceded. Turning around and nearly walking out of the home before stopping. "Er, where are these guys again?"

Cologne let out a chuckle, she wasn't sure why she'd really thought of the gosunkugi clan specifically, as she did know there were magical clans perhaps it was because of the connection between herself and both the Saotome clan as well as Gosunkugi clan which had made her suggest it.

Regardless these two would definitely provide great amusement, if only she were young again perhaps she would be able to indulge in the foolish adventures of youth and leave with them.

Alas such time was past, and she was needed by the tribe, still Cologne had no doubt the appearance of Isamu's heir was a sign, interesting times were afoot.

"That you'll have to find for yourself child, however there are some things you should probably learn, regarding your current gender."

* * *

Gosunkugi Hikaru walked towards his home with a sigh, he'd had a normal day so far. Woke up, attended school, where he went unnoticed, he'd gone to the library where most people ignored him, and now he was coming home, likely to parents that would remain unaware of his parents.

It was something most would find depressing, but Gosunkugi took solace in not being noticed, after all at least none of the local delinquents had robbed him today. A smile graced the young Gosunkugi's face recalling the highlight of his day, namely Tendo Akane saying Hi to him.

A strange car seemed to be parked in front of the house, causing Gosunkugi to raise an eyebrow, especially given that the car seemed rather expensive.

The teen shrugged assuming it was for one of the neighbors before continuing into the house.

It turned out that assumption was incorrect as he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking with his parents. Hikaru wondered what was going on before beginning to continue going to his room. He stopped however upon hearing that HE was the subject of the conversation, while his parents didn't neglect him the idea of him being the subject of conversation between them and this mysterious wealthy person was rather unbelievable considering how unextraordinary he was.

The young Gosunkugi took a glance inside the living room where he caught sight of his parents sitting at the table drinking tea. They seemed to be speaking to a man in something similar to a modernized onmyoji outfit crossed with something like a martial arts gi, though it definitely was closer to the former than the latter. There was a woman in a business suit next to him who seemed to be speaking with his parents as well.

"Hmm, I assume that would be Hikaru?" The man said, causing Hikaru to blink, normally people simply didn't notice him even when he was directly in their line of sight.""Quite the unusual aura you have, nephew, I barely noticed it myself." The man commented turning to face Hikaru.

Yamato meanwhile was intrigued, while his brother unsurprisingly was acting as though they hadn't been out of touch for the better part of fifteen years, the fact he'd taken root in this specific district, considering the numerous magical sources he could sense. Especially given his brother had claimed to live here for a normal life.

Then Hikaru had shown up, something the mystic almost hadn't noticed. The boy's aura was unique to say the least, very difficult to notice, which would usually be an indicator of a lack of magical power. However upon closer inspection that wasn't it at all his power was simply compressed to a ridiculous degree, yet he could sense just how absurdly high the child's magical power had. It was stronger than HIS aura!

He could tell how he'd missed such power, as he had checked Hikaru's aura at his birth, shortly before his brother had decided to move out to Nerima and away from the clan's main compound and he'd obviously missed this.

As for the boy physically, he didn't look overly impressive, though that wasn't anything new to their family, even for Noburu himself. He immediately had noticed the dark circles and pale skin as well as the rather skinny build. Overall Hikaru looked very much like his father had when younger.

"I suppose an introduction is an order." Yamato said formally. "I am Gosunkugi Yamato, head of clan Gosunkugi and your uncle, this is Yamauchi Atsuko, my business consultant she is in charge of the clans assets." The woman in question gave a bow before returning to conversing with Hikaru's parents about matters that would likely make things easier, after all this contract could be just what he needed to reignite the clans magical power, a theory which was supported by Hikaru's raw magical power. "So then Hikaru-kun, I suppose you must be wondering what this is about." Yamato said.

Hikaru meanwhile could see the similarities that tended to permeate his family. Whatever this was about seemed to be important, especially considering he hadn't ever met this uncle-who claimed he was the head of their clan-and it somehow involved him of all people. "Um, I guess...Oj-er I mean Yamato-sa-" Hikaru started before being interrupted. "Oji-san is fine, nephew there is no need for formalities here. Regardless as you may know, our clan is one of the mystic arts and while your parents have informed me they have not trained you." The two of them had left the dining room and were currently in the backyard of the house, as Yamato had decided to lead Hikaru away from his parents so that Yamauchi-san could negotiate them into agreeing to the marriage contract.

Not that such agreement was necessary in such a magically binding contract, but it would be better for all involved if things went as smoothly as possible. "Though I can see that you've taken an interest in the supernatural regardless." He gestured to a book sticking out of the High school student's bag, one about speaking with spirits. The boy nodded, though he seemed to be rather shy about the whole thing. "It's to be expected given your bloodline of course. Which actually has something to do with my being here. But first how much do you know about the Azuma-bi no Ryodan?"

Hikaru blinked, the group were supposed to be some kind of myth, but he didn't really know much about them other than a few references he'd seen in some of the magical books he'd read.

"Er not much?" Hikaru admitted nervously. Somehow he felt that he should know more, especially given the brief disapprovement in his uncle's eyes.

"To be expected I suppose, the truth is our clan is descended from one of the key figures of the group, he was known as the Hebinoō, Gosunkugi Noburu. He was supposedly close friends with another of the group, some say the two were brothers in all but blood, the man known as Saotome Isamu." Yamato knew it would be best to stretch the importance of these two in particular. If the clan was to continue as a prominent magical clan of japan they would need Hikaru, and for this union to happen.

"The two long ago made a certain promise between our two clans, one which has not been fulfilled due to certain circumstances." Yamato continued, this was where it became more difficult, he was no stranger to the issues of modern times, especially with conventions such a arranged marriages.

Hikaru could easily refuse out of teen rebellion or other such nonsense and while the magic inherent in the contract would make a refusal futile in the long run, as the two would eventually find themselves coming together due to circumstance, however it would be best if the two were willing participants.

"This oath made was apparently to unite the two clans, through marriage. However such a union has not been possible...at least not until now." Yamato finished. Hikaru seemed to be confused momentarily and Yamato decided to wait until the boy put the pieces together.

Hikaru meanwhile was trying to figure out what his uncle was talking about and how this had to do with hi-wait marriage?

"Um...you can't really mean?" hikaru said, there was no way anyone could really want him to represent the family, especially in something as important seeming.

"Indeed, the contract is magically in nature and has chosen you to represent our clan in this most important of matters, I have already contacted the head of the Saotome clan about the contract. It appears your betrothed is currently on a trip, though she and her father are supposedly due back soon."

Hikaru wasn't sure what to feel about all this, he'd never really expected this type of thing, after all magical ancestors and arranged marriages were the type of things that happened to people with interesting lives. The idea of marriage did scare the scrawny boy, after all he'd never even had a girlfriend!

"Um, who exactly is this girl?" Hikaru asked.

"Nobody i spoke to knew her personally, your betrothed is only known by her clan in name only it seems." The statement wasn't the only unusual thing about the girl, apparently she'd been registered as a boy, and looking into the child had allowed him to find a history of mental illness with the mother, likely the reason for this.

Saotome Nodoka apparently had an unhealthy fixation on "manliness" as well as being highly traditional, it was likely her own insanity that explained the irregularities. The child had even been forced to go to a boys' junior high school, likely the father had been trying to keep his daughter from her mother's insanity. Looking at that actually made some other anomalies easier to explain, such as the numerous other marriage contracts, likely used simply to placate Nodoka. He'd have to find way to deal with that situation when it arose, given the woman likely thought her daughter to actually be a son, and that would certainly cause problems later on.

"I suppose I could at least give you a name, while we try to contact her in the meantime. The girl you are to marry is known as Saotome Ranma."

* * *

AN- Alright there was another chapter for ya.

Some criticism I wanna address, yes I used google translate and rather simplistic titles for the ancestors, I'm lazy and wanted to get on with the story I'll admit that Reddotaiga wasn't the best title for Isamu however. I originally wanted to have this post-manga however it simply wouldn't work as well with how I'm planning this story.

Now for more important things, i'm planning to bring Shampoo and Akane in later though I'm unsure what role they would fill as of yet, as I have said before in prior stories I tend to write characters from Ranma in a rather subjective manner depending on the needs of the story. This could mean treating the character positively as or in a more negative light. If you are looking for character bashing in the story, look somewhere else as I prefer not to indulge in it.

Now as for the story itself, this chapter has given me a bit of trouble especially when it comes to Gosunkugi and Yamato's parts in it. I'll try to get the next update done quicker but as I do work full time hours and currently have been rather busy.

Please review if you like, especially if you have a suggestions on what I could do with this story.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ranma looked up at the towering buildings in the distance as they continued walking through the smaller, more residential district she and her father were currently located in.

"Pop, why didja have "ta drag us to Tokyo anyways, thought we were gonna go get those Gosunkugi guys, I don't exactly wanna stay a girl ya know!" She asked annoyed.

"Boy, how far do you think we'll get by just blindly running around Japan?" Her father said, making what she grudgingly could admit was a good point, still… "Besides, Tokyo is a big place, probably the best place to start looking." Genma continued, causing his son-turned-daughter to stare.

It was rare to see her father thinking things through this much, perhaps she was being a bit tough on the old man…

"Alright, where exactly ya think we should start then?' Ranma asked impatiently.

"Stop worrying so much boy, just trust in your father, we just need to stop at Tendo's place first."

Ranma rolled her eyes, her father had mentioned stopping at his friend's place before they did anything, but the Saotome child didn't get how that would help. Still she supposed it would be better than camping out, she didn't particularly like it though.

"You jus wanna get drunk…" She said annoyed.

"If that's the way you treat your poor old father who slaves away to ensure you are cured I won't force you to come." Genma said. In reality it would probably be better if Ranma didn't come after all, it would be best if Soun and Ranma met after the curse was at least unlocked.

The last thing he wanted was more complications, besides Ranma didn't really NEED to know about the engagement yet.

"Yeah whatever Ol' man, ain't like I wanna watch ya sit around'n play shogi er somethin' anyway." Ranma said, figures the old man wasn't really taking this seriously, baka-panda.

"Oh what a shameful son I have raised, to distrust his old man in such serious times!" Genma lamented dramatically.

"Oh shut it old man!" Ranma said, sweeping up a bucket from the side of a house and splashing her father. "If ya ain't gonna take lookin' fer a cure seriously ya can be a panda for all i care."

Genma watched his annoyed offspring walk off in a different direction. He wasn't too worried, Ranma knew he was going to the Tendo dojo, and his son could take care of herself if she somehow failed to find the dojo.

* * *

Ranma meanwhile wasn't sure what to think of her father's behavior.

The baka had no reason to be goofing off and going to get drunk with his friend right now, She had even thought her father had been serious for a few minutes. The jackass had always been rambling on about manliness and NOW he decided not to take things serious, you'd think her father would be the first person trying to get her manhood back.

Of course it occurred to the Saotome girl that Tokyo wasn't exactly a small place, and she really had no clue what to look for. While she had experience with weird stuff, usually her and her pop just ended up stumbling into these things, much like they did with Jusenkyo.

She'd never actually went LOOKING for strange things, and even then they didn't really find these types of things that often.

She decided to take to the rooftops, at the very least wanting to get the lay of the land before doing anything, then she'd find these Gos-guys and get her manhood back!

The district of Nerima itself was rather unusual from what Ranma could tell. She had been learning to hone her ability to sense Ki in the time between meeting the Amazon elder Cologne and the several weeks of travel that occurred afterwards.

It was actually surprisingly easy to hone after Ranma managed to get past the meditative part, something the teenager had always had problems with. She'd normally have not put so much focus on something that overall she'd never had a use for, however Cologne had brought up the technique mentioning it could be helpful in their journey.

Ranma had been skeptical, though her father did mention such a skill could be useful as well and allowed Ranma to learn a few training techniques to help strengthen this sense.

Despite the initial difficulty Ranma's Ki senses became far sharper than before, and she could sense several rather high ki presences throughout the district surprisingly. The skill still wasn't sharp enough to be really useful in combat, given she needed to focus unless one had an absurd amount of energy, but at the very least she was able to utilize it actively, as opposed to subconsciously, as her father had trained her to do with killing intent, especially when asleep.

Despite that, it looked like a rather unassuming ward, in fact it looked downright normal on the outside. Ranma didn't really know what to look for, she'd assumed she'd be able to tell these magic people from-what the heck!

Whatever it was she was sensing it definitely wasn't Ki, and it was HUGE. Not in a physical sense of course, but she could definitely sense whatever it was, there was someone with a lot of it, or at least several people with this weird not-ki nearby.

Ranma couldn't really explain it, and the weird Not-ki seemed to disappear just as quickly as it had appeared it seemed.

She turned to the direction she'd sensed the strange burst of not-Ki, deciding this was the best lead she had.

So with nothing to lose, Ranma started her journey to the location of the strange energy via the rooftops.

* * *

Gosunkugi Hikaru had felt his life had changed after the revelation of being engaged. On the surface one wouldn't notice any real changes if they were to look at most of his life. His daily Routine had stayed mostly the same, as well as his relations with his classmates.

Few people noticed him still, apparently a strange aspect of his aura according to his uncle, he went to school, continued having crushing on Tendo Akane, and was ignored with the exception of the occasional delinquent.

A few things had changed during the last several weeks however, two specific changes had largely taken place, for one he'd started his own magical training under his uncle. Apparently his uncle felt he was worth training, despite the fact he'd failed every spell so far for some reason. According to his uncle this was normal for beginning magic users but the fact he'd already left three craters in the small backyard area of his home was still concerning.

There was one other change in his life, mostly being that he'd backed off on his more stalkerish tendencies when it came to his crush. It wasn't that he had completely gotten over Tendo Akane, however now a different girl took precedence in his fantasies.

He had spent many hours trying to figure out what this Ranma girl would be like?

He'd imagined her having a variety of different features and personalities but really. Overall the young Gosunkugi was more anxious when it came to his apparent future bride. From what he'd been told she had been on a martial arts training trip for most of her life with her father, would they even be found? Did he want to get married?

Hikaru didn't have an answer, while he found himself fixated on the mystery girl, he also had his worries. What if she was expecting some kind of jock type? Would she really settle for a guy like him? Did she even have any interest in the marriage?

Gosunkugi had no idea how to even act if he did end up meeting her, He'd never really even been able to muster the courage to TALK to any of the girls in his class, how would he be able to deal with a fiancee! It had been several weeks and still nobody had any clue about this Ranma girl, while the boy wasn't really eager to be married he still was curious about the girl he was apparently engaged to.

Of course none of this mattered to Gosunkugi right now, not with the situation he'd found himself in while walking home. It was an altogether familiar situation to the scrawny boy,. A group of delinquents had apparently decided he looked like an easy target, and had now cornered him.

There were five of them overall, all with their faces covered. The one that evidently was the leader of this gang of thugs stepped forward. "Come on buddy. Jus hand over whatcha got an' we won't hurt you too bad." He said, walking up to Hikaru while maintaining a rather threatening demeanor.

Hikaru wasn't sure what to do, after all they still had indicated they would hurt him,. He remembered he'd had one of the shinto seals his uncle had been making him practice making in his bag, of course but he'd have to get it out.

Easy enough, the fact the seals hadn't worked correctly during any of his training sessions not even crossing the mind of the teen.

"Alright, alright, let's lose our heads here, nobody needs to hurt anyone" He placated, reaching into his bag as if to be complying with the demands of the thugs.

He managed to grab the seal just before the bag was yanked out of his hand, by the lead delinquent.

"I don't think ya heard me right, I said hand over what ya got, that means everything see." The thug casually shoved the smaller, scrawnier boy, easily knocking him off his feet and causing him to hit the wall. "Ya see, now I gotta hurt ya, see we got a reputation, an' lettin' ya get away with not listenin' ain't exactly good for that rep." The delinquent threw a punch at Hikaru's face to emphasize his point.

However, That was the moment that the Gosunkugi decided to make his move, holding the seal out in front of him as a shield.

In any normal situation, the ofuda paper would have been a poor defense against the attack, however Hikaru's magic, was the deciding factor in this particular event.

The kanji that marked the Ofuda seal began to glow a dim green, the fist stopped mid-strike as though the paper seal had instead been a solid wall.

Then a rush of pure force slammed into the delinquent, sending him flying back several meters.

The seal meanwhile fell to the ground, before slowly burning away into nothing more than ash.

There was a long tense silence as everyone tried to process what had just happened

"The hell? This guy some kinda demon or somethin?" One of the other members of the group shouted in surprise before their leader began to stand up, though obviously having trouble with the task.

"Don't just stand there idiots, get'im already!"

Gosunkugi looked at the rather angry looking delinquents before gulping. This was not good.

* * *

Ranma stopped at on-top of the perimeter wall of a random home before looking around.

She supposed it'd be too much for one of these Go-guys to be waiting for her when she arrived. Still she'd been hoping she'd be able to find something!

Unfortunately the Saotome girl had no clue where exactly the not-ki came from, and she'd more or less lost the trail. She'd went in the same direction she'd sensed it in, but it didn't look like anything had come of that since there was nobody even vaguely magically looking.

She hopped over to the roof of a nearby building, hoping to get a better vantage point only to sigh in frustration upon not seeing any signs saying "Magical guys here!"

A sound caught the redhead's attention, and she traced said sound to it's source quickly only to see what looked like a fight.

Or more accurately a beating given one side of the fight seemed content to cower in the fetal position.

Ranma did at least note they were smart enough to protect their head and vital organs, though it was still a rather pitiful display. Really she was more annoyed with the group of toughs obviously roughing up a noncombatant.

.Well at least she'd found a good outlet for her annoyance with the curse, as well as her failings at finding any clue as to the cure of the curse.

She sprang into action landing a jump kick on one of the thugs closer to their victim before knocking down two of the remaining four with a low sweeping kick.

"You guys gotta lotta nerve beatin' on someone who can't fight back." Ranma said, glaring at the two guys still standing. She noted one already seemed a bit roughed up, perhaps they'd been fighting someone else earlier.

After all the guy they had been beating up definitely couldn't have done it, while one learned not to judge by appearances when it comes to fighting ability, the boy's Ki seemed low even for non-martial artists and he obviously wasn't much of a fighter given the display earlier.

She filed that away for later while the jerks got back to their feet. Standing in one of the trademark "unprepared" stances of the Anything Goes style. Hands behind her back and looking for all the world like she wasn't surrounded by jerks who probably were looking to beat the crap out of her right now.

The leader of the delinquents meanwhile was a bit worried, the strange magic trick that the geeky looking guy had seemed to be a one-off, but this girl had just knocked three of them down rather easily.

His buddies had seen the girl move too, definitely one of those martial arts types. "Ey why dontcha jus' mind yer business" He said, while thinking about what to do. Of course he did realize that at the very least, there was no way this girl could be as good as a Neriman, and she definitely wasn't local.

Yeah maybe they wouldn't be able to take her one on one, her display earlier had shown revealed that much, but he doubted she'd be able to take all of them on.

"But I guess if you wanna join in on the fun!" He shouted moving to throw a haymaker while his friends, having caught onto the plan moved on the weird redhead as well.

Ranma meanwhile was unimpressed, the boy had telegraphed the attack so clearly she could probably have seen it from China.

"Ya need ta try better than that!" She yelled, dodging the Haymaker before using the boy's own momentum to transition her dodge into a throw, effortlessly tossing the head punk into one of his pals before immediately transitioning to a reverse hook kick, striking an opponent in the side of the head with the heel of her foot.

The last two thugs tried to rush her, obviously thinking to rush her before she could get into position to defend herself.

What they hadn't expected her to jump above the two of them avoiding the attacks before gracefully landing with a spinning kick that knocked one of the two down and striking the last with an a palm strike to the chest.  
The thugs, those that were still conscious ran off after that, obviously realizing they were outmatched, even with their greater numbers.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "Ya coulda at least made this interesting, Jerks." She yelled after them, before turning her attention to the guy that had been previously mistaken for a punching bag.

"Hey pal, ya alright?"

Hikaru meanwhile was in shock, the last thing he'd expected was for somebody to actually help him, the only one who'd done that had been Tendo Akane in a similar way as well, and even then she hadn't really thought to talk to him afterwards, as she'd been more angry at those who'd been picking a fight on someone weaker than them.

The fact that the person in question was a cute girl didn't help to ease the Gosunkugi's shock.

"Hey ya alright? Ya ain't been hit in the head er nothin right?"

The boy blinked before realizing he was staring at the redhead. "Er, sorry, t-thanks, im fine.."

"No problem, too bad they were such wimps though, was hopin' ta blow off some steam." The girl said in apparent disappointment.

Hikaru wasn't sure what to say, he didn't have much social experience and the fact that he was now alone with an attractive female did nothing to help that issue.

"Great, now I'm lost, an' of course pop took the map." The girl muttered to herself, having turned to walk off.

"I-I can h-help you…" Gosunkugi stuttered out.

Ranma meanwhile had been trying to look for her father's Ki signature, before giving up upon realizing he was likely out of her range. She also couldn't find any sort of sign of magic, or that strange 'd sensed before.

The boy volunteering surprised her, mostly because she wasn't really used to people going out of their way to help her or her pop on the road, and she'd figured the guy would have run off by now.

"Don't 'spose, ya know tha way ta the Tendo Dojo?" The redhead asked.

Hikaru nodded, deciding it would be better not to be left stuttering in front of the strange girl.

"Thanks, buddy, er what was yer name again?"

"Eh? Oh Gosunkugi Hikaru."

Ranma's eyes widened, there was no way it could really be that easy could it? She supposed the guy. She gave the guy, Hikaru apparently, a second look.

He was rather scrawny, heck he didn't really look like he had much muscle in his body at all really. He also had strange dark circles under his eyes, as though he didn't get much sleep.

Other than those two characteristics there wasn't really anything that made this Hikaru guy stick out, he looked mostly like any other japanese teenager for the most part.

"The name's Saotome Ranma, an' we gotta talk…"

* * *

 **Author's Note**

Alright well not completely sure how I feel about this chapter, most of it has just been me setting up circumstances to get the two protagonists to meet. I'm trying to avoid the typical Ranma arrives in Nerima chapter. That said the fight scene gave me problems, though I think it's safe to say Ranma could easily curb stomp a group of random delinquents.

As for Genma seeming more logical, while he's not typically the type to think about common sense stuff like safety, he DID plan out the training trip, and managed to keep both himself and Ranma healthy enough to continue practicing martial arts at the high level they typically do. Figured I'd justify the way im having him acting the way he does, though I am working on keeping him in character as well.

Gosunkugi is possibly both the easiest and hardest to write for, since he doesn't have much of a character to begin with as he doesn't appear with the frequency, or make as much of an impact as other characters.

Hope you've all enjoyed and I'd appreciate some feedback. so if you think I've botched up somewhere go ahead and point out how.


End file.
